On 15 May, in Beit Sahour near Bethlehem, Palestinian youth held candles during a moment of silence in commemoration of 60 years since the Palestinian Nakba and the many who have died during the wars and occupation following (photos by the AIC, 2008).
By the time the first Arab-Israeli war
ended in 1949 with ceasefire agreements, more than 500 Palestinian villages had
been depopulated. Nine-hundred thousand Palestinians, representing around half
of the pre-war Arab population of Palestine, were displaced and therefore
became refugees. Of the roughly 150,000 Palestinians who remained in what
became the State of Israel, approximately 30,000 were internally displaced. The
houses of Palestinians forced to leave were largely either destroyed or
expropriated and occupied by the Jewish settlers. When, on 11 May 1949, the UN
General Assembly approved Israel’s membership in the United Nations, Palestine
and Palestinian people began to disappear for the international community. They
became an indistinct mass of refugees, not a nation, not even an identity, only
a problem.
Thousands of Palestinians and Internationals marched through the streets of Beit Sahour in commemoration of 60 years since the Palestinian Nakba (photos by the AIC, 2008).
This is what the Palestinians refer to as Al-Nakba,
meaning “the Catastrophe.”
Annually, on 15 May, this
Palestinian displacement and suffering is commemorated, and this year marks 60 years since the Nakba.
Palestinian refugees present the world’s largest and longest-standing refugee
case. Since the 1970s, when the United
Nations reaffirmed that Palestinians are a nation entitled to
self-determination, independence and the return of refugees, the situation has
remained unresolved. The international community failed in holding Israel to
account for its violations towards the Palestinian people, and Israel still
continues to occupy and colonize Palestinian land, displacing Palestinians with
near total impunity.
Palestinian children launched 21,915 (365 days x 60 years) black balloons over the skies of Jerusalem to make the Israelis aware that there is another side of the story, a side of heartache, suffering and dispossession.
To date, effective protection is not
available for these Palestinian refugees. In this context, the Nakba has
never finished for them, and so their struggle for dignity and justice will persist.
Both will continue to shape Palestinian identity from generation to generation,
in the homeland as well as in exile. That is why Palestinian children from all throughout
the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the entire world were asked today to mark this
stage in their history.
In this framework the Alternative
Information Center (AIC), in cooperation with the Jadal Center for Culture
& Development and the Beit Sahour Municipality, along with other civil
society organizations and Beit Sahour state and private schools, organized numerous
activities to commemorate the Nakba for children and youths of the area. Eleven
schools from Beit Sahour joined the events held at the playground of the Beit
Sahour Boys’ Elementary School.
Many marchers carried signs stating "The Right of Return is Not for Sale." (photo by the AIC, 2008).
The activities started at 8:30 a.m., with schoolchildren
visiting a site prepared with tents in memorial to the Palestinian refugees.
Each tent held an event. Members of the Elderly Club of the Union of Health
Work Committees, for example, told visiting children the history of the Nakba.
The Latin Scout Group showed them a multimedia presentation on the history of
Palestine. Another tent hosted stands with Palestinian handcrafts made by members
of the Arab Women’s Union and the Palestinian Women’s Union. Other tents
provided exhibitions with old pictures of refugees and depopulated villages
from 1948, in addition to the “Good Morning Yaffa” art exhibition of Yussef
Katalo.
The morning continued with a student
festival, in which each school presented a program with poems, shows and
traditional dabke dancing.
palestinian girls dressed in traditional local garb (photo by the AIC, 2008).
The activities then moved to the Aida Refugee
Camp, where together with the National Committee for the Nakba participants
joined the “black balloons” activity. Palestinian children launched 21,915 (365
days x 60 years) black balloons over the skies of Jerusalem to make the Israelis aware
that there is another side of the story, a side of heartache, suffering and
dispossession. The balloons carried letters from the children expressing their
hope for the future.
In the evening, people from Beit Sahour,
all the local organizations involved in the Nakba activities, representatives
of 1948 Palestinians and internationals gathered in front of the Beit Sahour
Municipality to take part in a march and popular demonstration. Palestinian scouts
and youths with torches and panels led a march to the playground of the school.
The black balloons being released over the hills of Jerusalem (photo by the AIC, 2008).
Here Jalal Barham from the Jadal Center,
Nassar Ibrahim of the AIC and representatives of the Beit Sahour Municipality
and the National Nakba Committee presented the festival for memorial of the Nakba.
This festival began with the national hymn
and some minutes of silence in memory of the Palestinian martyrs, and then continued
with speeches, traditional and modern Palestinian music and dabka, and theatre shows.
It was an important and touching moment for Palestinians to share their history,
traditions, culture and politics of a people in exile.
Jalal Barham from the Jadal Center (center right) and Nassar Ibrahim of the AIC (center left) (photo by the AIC, 2008).
Palestinian youth from the Bethlehem region on the march (photo by the AIC, 2008).
Palestinian youth holding candles behind a Palestinian flag during a moment of silence in commemoration of 60 years since the Palestinian Nakba and the many who have died during the wars and occupation following (photos by the AIC, 2008).
The Palestinian demonstrators marched through a giant keyhole to represent a reclaiming of their lost properties during the Nakba, and the ongoing disposession up to the present (photo by the AIC, 2008).
Local youth scouts marching band (photo by the AIC, 2008).
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